Bank Loan Report articles from June 2003

Bank Loan Report archives from June 2003

Dividend Deals Gain in Popularity in Loan Market.('dividend deals' are gaining popularity among loans)
June 2, 2003... For some US companies that have been supported through these trying times by financial sponsors, it is payback time - in the form of "dividend deals," a refinancing twist that is enjoying a surge in popularity. The onset of the refinancing...

Insider Credit Info Proposal Must Deepen.(a plan to determine who has access to 'material nonpublic information' needs to be stronger)
June 2, 2003... A recently issued exposure draft setting out principles to clarify who is privy to "material nonpublic information" in the credit markets is an impressive first step, according to the author of a previous report largely credited with prompting...

Bondholders fret about Tenet's New CEO.(Tenet Healthcare CEO Jeffrey Barbakow resigns, although bondholders have concerns)
June 2, 2003... Tenet Healthcare's announcement of the resignation of CEO Jeffrey Barbakow gave the company's bonds a bit of a boost. But bondholders are still worried about who will replace Barbakow at the helm of the second largest domestic owner and...

Vivendi Launches Jumbo Term Loan B To Cash-Rich Institutions Hungry for Paper.
June 2, 2003... Institutions are back in the saddle again, just in time for French media company Vivendis jumbo financing that includes a $950 million term loan B. Compared to the beginning of the year, institutions investing in bank loans appear to be...

Energy Downgrades Reflect Long-Term Malaise, Test Banks.(new ways are emerging to improve borrowers' liquidity)
June 9, 2003... Notwithstanding close calls and credit extensions over the last year, banks have accommodatingly refinanced energy companies' debt and avoided forcing borrowers into bankruptcy - a benign strategy that may soon be tested amid some companies'...

Loan Market Goes Downscale.(smaller loan deals have been issued)
June 9, 2003... Over the last few months, a steady stream of outsize deals have been making their way through the syndicated loan markets. But nestled among these jumbo offerings for the likes of General Electric Capital Co., Vivendi Universal Entertainment...

FP&L Deal To Jumpstart Project Finance.(Florida Power and Light plans a $400 million loan)
June 9, 2003... The US project finance industry has been anything but active over the past 18 months. Only a handful of deals - four, totaling $340 million, according to Thomson Financial - priced in the first quarter of 2003, hardly worth comparing with...

Buyside on Credit Default Swaps: Friendlier Spreads and Protection Needs Are Strengthening Market.(narrower spreads and more players are good signs for the credit market)
June 9, 2003... Following a period of wide spreads on credit default swaps last year, when market participants feared more corporate defaults, the narrower spreads today and an increasing number of players bode well for the market, according to a panel of...

People Moves...(banking industry personnel announcements)(Brief Article)
June 9, 2003... * Merrill Lynch hired Greg Margolies to be a managing director in its leveraged finance group. Margolies previously worked for two and a half years as a managing director for Deutsche Bank in its private equity division. There, he helped start...

Leaving Las Vegas: US Gaming Giants Invade UK Market.(US casino operators are planning to expand their operations in the United Kingdom)
June 16, 2003... It has an airport, a pier, a host of hotels and a population of around 130,000. In fact, all that separates Blackpool, UK, from Atlantic City, N.J., is a handful of casinos, or so policy makers at MGM Mirage and Kerzner International Ltd. are...

DebtX Comments on Secondary Market.(DebtX CEO J. Kingsley Greenland disucsses the secondary loan market)(Interview)
June 16, 2003... The secondary loan market is continuing to gain both volume and participants, including community banks that are looking to diversify their credit exposures, according to J. Kingsley Greenland, CEO of DebtX, which specializes in brokering bank...

What's the Biggest and Getting Bigger?(the single-B credit category continues to grow)
June 16, 2003... Answer: The single-B credit category. In fact, the number of borrowers holding senior implied ratings of single-B, which includes bank debt and securities, grew nearly 7.8% between the beginning of the year and May 31, to 526 from 488. That...

Project Finance Refinancings Try Their Luck in the High Yield Market.(the high yield bond market is attracting a lot of attention)
June 16, 2003... The high yield bond market is the hottest market to be in these days, and not only is it attracting a host of new investors, it has also caught the eye of a diverse range of issuers. Project financiers are the latest group to seek fortune...

Mirant Faces Friday Deadline Or Bankruptcy Looms.
June 23, 2003... Energy company Mirant is under the gun: It has until this Friday to persuade bondholders and banks to accept a bond exchange offer that could put many of its lenders at a disadvantage in the case of bankruptcy. The issue Mirant creditors...

Offloading Debt Hasn't Improved Kmart.
June 23, 2003... Many companies go through a Chapter 11 filing hoping to step from the bankruptcy courts straight into a chaotic market in which their restructured balance sheets give them a competitive edge over their debt-ridden rivals. Kmart, which...

Positive Signs for European Lev. Finance.
June 23, 2003... Despite suffering strongly negative rating trends through 2002, a number of encouraging signs have developed thus far in 2003, which suggest the European leveraged finance market is heading in the right direction, according to a recent report...

United Faces Tough Covenant Test But Airlines Hang On, Achieving a Certain Popularity Among Investors.
June 23, 2003... The airline industry's outlook has picked up somewhat over the last few months as poster child United Airlines met another covenant test in April, and will likely meet May's, thereby avoiding a default on its debtor-in-possession (DIP)...

Liquefied Natural Gas Heats up Pipeline Construction Business.(Industry Overview)
June 30, 2003... Demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been increasing steadily over the past couple of years and has fueled the need for additional pipelines and terminals. Some project financiers have anticipated the trend, and are working toward...

SPEs: "Tell Us the Details, Please".(special purpose entities)
June 30, 2003... Enron is practically history now and while the financial markets are not known for long memories, some lenders still have lingering concerns that off-balance-sheet vehicles may still be misused by borrowers, thereby planting the seeds for...

GE Grows Business In Listless Market.
June 30, 2003... Lenders specializing in industry sectors may have a new competitor soon. GE Corporate Financial Services (CFS) has broadly lent to noninvestment-grade companies across the industrial spectrum, and over the last year it has developed...

In its Latest Venture, LoanX Launches One-Stop Price Shop for Loans, Bonds and Equities.(Xerox and Foamex Products arrange financing)
June 30, 2003... LoanX Inc., a market-supported platform created to increase syndicated loan secondary market liquidity and transparency, has launched the first and sole one-stop shop for loan, bond and equity prices. The new product, called RISKMarker,...

Market Gives Thumbs-Up to PG&E Deal.
June 30, 2003... PG&E Corp. expected to price a $600 million offering of five-year, non-call three senior secured notes just as its utility company, Pacific Gas & Electric, is preparing to emerge from bankruptcy - but investors cannot wait for the issue. ...